French historians and political opponents heaped ridicule on France’s prime minister on Tuesday after he claimed that his country’s “bare-breasted” national symbol, Marianne, wouldn't have worn the burkini.

Liberty leading the Republic, Eugene Delacroix, 1830

Debate has been raging in France over the full-body swimsuit sometimes worn by Muslim women ever since a string of resorts towns on the French Riviera banned the burkini earlier this summer.

France's highest administrative court last Friday then suspended one seaside town's ban in the Mediterranean resort of Villeneuve-Loubet on the grounds it violated fundamental liberties. An administrative court in Nice also suspended the ban using the same arguments on Tuesday.

The issue has overshadowed political debate as campaigning for next Spring’s presidential elections gets underway, with Nicolas Sarkozy, candidate to represent the centre-Right Republicans calling for a new law banning the garment, which covers the body but not the face.

However, Manuel Valls, the French prime minister, was accused on Tuesday of taking things too far by invoking the symbol of the French republic, Marianne, as proof the burkini was an affront to Gallic values.

"Her breast is bare because she's feeding the people; she isn't wearing a veil because she's free," he said during a Socialist rally on Monday night.

French Prime Minister Manuel Valls delivers his speech as he attends a meeting with Socialist Party members in Colomiers near Toulouse, France,Credit:
FRED LANCELOT/REUTERS

The French had to reclaim patriotism in the face of Islamist totalitarianism, insisting there should be no compromise on the role of women, he went on.

One historian insisted his use of Marianne as a feminist symbol was "moronic".

Mathilde Larrere, an expert on the French Revolution, said Marianne was an allegory and the use of her naked breast "just an artistic code" borrowed from antiquity and nothing to do with femininity.

Ms Larrere pointed out in a Tweet that the renowned Eugene Delacroix painting depicted Liberty and not a republic.

In the 19th century, there were two competing symbols of Marianne - a demure, unarmed, fully clothed, heroine and a Marianne with a Phrygian bonnet, sword and exposed breast, she explained.

While revolutionaries opted for the naked Marianne, more conservative republicans backed the clothed figure, even banning bare breasts at one stage. None talked of women’s rights and freedoms, she pointed out.

Le Figaro political correspondent Sophie de Ravinel pointed out that while Marianne's breast was exposed, her head was covered too.

Meanwhile, Cécile Duflot, a green former minister, said: “Mr Valls should have stuck to his text. Marianne is an allegory of the Republic, not of woman.”

“The idea that a woman wouldn’t wear a veil because she’s free and would be bare-breasted to offer nourishment speaks volumes about the view certain male politicians have of women,” she went on.

Over the years, the faces of several female French public figures have been used to represent Marianne, from Brigitte Bardot to Catherine Deneuve and Laetitia Casta.

Mr Valls’ comments came as the United Nations human rights office issued a stinging rebuke of the the burkini ban, calling it a “stupid reaction".

A spokesman for Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, said: "It's frankly a stupid reaction to what we are ... facing, in terms of terrorist attacks.

“It does nothing to increase security, it does nothing to improve public order." The bans following a string of killings by Islamist militants in France over the past 20 months that have left more than 200 dead – most recently when a truck driver rammed his vehicle into crowds in Nice on July 14.

The spokesman said the UN rights office understood the grief and anger generated by the attacks.

But he added that such decrees "fuel religious intolerance and the stigmatisation of Muslims in France, especially women”.

They "may actually undermine the effort to fight and prevent violent extremism, which depends on cooperation and mutual respect between communities".

The bans were "nothing to do with health or hygiene", as argued by some French officials, he said. "We urge all remaining local authorities which have adopted similar bans to repeal them immediately”.